Maia Song Contest 26

Maia Song Contest 26 will be the twenty-sixth edition of the Maia Song Contest, held in Temekylopia following the victory of "Juice" by Lizzo in the previous edition.

Location
TSBN and the MBU announced the conditions under which cities and venues could announce their interest in hosting the contest. On 20th April 2019, Temekylopia's Sickening Broadcasting Network announced that the Cupola arena, located in the middle of Spugnosh, would host the twenty-sixth edition of the Maia Song Contest.

The general conditions under which cities and venues could announce their interest in hosting the contest are as follows:

Host venue
 * The host city had to be near a major airport.
 * The venue must be available for the rehearsal period before the contest and one week after the conclusion of the contest
 * The venue must not be open-air, but an air-conditioned building with a capacity of at least 10,000 and a minimum ceiling height of 15 metres (49 ft), insulated for sound and light.
 * The green room must be located as close to the arena as possible (or within it), with a capacity of 300.

Semi-final allocations
On 20 April 2019, the MBU revealed the 'pots' for this edition, based upon geographical location. It is believed this will reduce the concept of diaspora voting. In total, there were five pots. Four contained seventh countries, while the Green pot contained six. This is the same method of semi-final allocation as in the previous edition.


 * a. Withdrawn from the contest following the semi-final allocation due to not sending an entry within the required timeframe.

Semi-final 1
, and  will vote in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
, the and  will vote in this semi-final.

Grand Final

 * The recap has not been released yet. For now, just enjoy the songs!

Björnsk entry change
Despite the initial victory of Blow with the song "You Killed Me on the Moon" at Björnskfestivalen 19, the country's national selection process, the entry was declared by BTV to be ineligible to compete in the contest according to their own internal rules. It was discovered following the group's victory that they had previously competed in D'unelalehvision 08, meaning that they were only allowed to compete if through the 'international wildcard' category, but as they didn't declare this, they competed as a newcomer.

BTV consulted with the runner-up and third placing contestants, though neither wanted to take up the opportunity. The lead singer of Sigur Rós, runner-up at the national final, said they felt it would be "unfair" as they did not win the process. As a result, BTV opted for internal selection and opted to send "Go deo, go deo". The song will be performed by Celtian band IMLÉ in Irish, the first time the language will be featured in the Maia Song Contest.

Late withdrawal of São Rico
Despite originally confirming their participation, São Rico was withdrawn from the contest on 20 April 2019, after the semi-final allocation draw. This is due to a failure to submit a valid entry prior to the deadline, and the MBU ruled that a further extension would cause further disruption than is acceptable to the timeline of the contest.

Other countries
Eligibility for potential participation in the Maia Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active MBU membership that would be able to broadcast the contest. The MBU will issue an invitation of participation in the contest to all active members.

Active MBU countries

 * - On 9 March 2019, DBN announced that the country is seriously debating the future in the Maia Song Contest. On April 1st, the HoD announced that Daléríqa will be withdrawing from the Maia Song Contest, citing awful results as the reason for the departure.
 * - After 20 editions of participating, SPS has decided to withdraw from Maia Song Contest indefinitely, citing that the broadcaster is focusing on different projects.
 * - On 20 April 2019, the country was disqualified for not having supplied the MBU with an entry despite two deadline extensions.
 * - On 13 April 2019, the MBU declared that the country was ineligible to compete due to the broadcaster's inability to co-operate with the functioning of the contest. They were, however, thanked for their contributions to the contest and wished the best in the future.
 * - On 1 April 2019, RVV announced that following two consecutive failures to vote in the grand finals of the previous two editions, it will be withdrawing from the 26th edition in order to refresh its approach to the contest. A return is likely in the 27th edition, although RVV did not give assurance of this.